Two juveniles convicted in Shakti Mill gang-rape cases

Mumbai: Two juveniles arrested in connection with the Shakti Mill gangrape cases of a photojournalist and a telephone operator were on Tuesday convicted by the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) and sent to a Nashik school for three years to learn "good behaviour".

"The JJB convicted two juveniles in the gang-rape cases and the board has sent them to Boston School in Nashik for learning good behaviour," Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said.

Nikam also said the Board, comprising Principal Magistrate G B Jadhav and member Mary Shettiyar, found the two juveniles guilty under sections of gang-rape, criminal conspiracy and molestation of the Indian Penal Code, besides other relevant sections.

After the conviction, Nikam told the Board that the "minors committed the most heinous crime and a strong action may be taken against them."

One of the juveniles was arrested in connection with the gang-rape of the 22-year-old photojournalist while the other was arrested for the gang-rape of the 18-year-old telephone operator.

The sessions court had on April 4 awarded capital punishment to three convicts - Vijay Jadhav (19), Kasim Bengali (21) and Mohammed Salim Ansari (28) - in connection with both the gang-rape cases.

Besides, two accused - Ashfaque Sheikh and Siraj Rehman - were awarded life imprisonment for their involvement in the telephone operator and photojournalist gangrape cases, respectively.

The telephone operator was gang-raped on the premises of Shakti Mill in Central Mumbai in July last year, a month before the photojournalist was brutalized on August 22.

The photojournalist, who was interning with an English magazine here, was gang-raped by three common convicts (in both the cases), Siraj Rehman and a minor boy when she had gone to the Shakti Mill compound with a male colleague on an assignment.

Meanwhile, appearing for the convict in the photojournalist case, lawyer Dayanand Desai told the JJB that the convict may be kept in Mumbai instead of Nashik.

"I told the court that the convict does not have either of his parents and this crime was mainly because of the company of bad friends. I requested the court that the convict be kept in Mumbai as it would be difficult for his grandmother to meet him in Nashik, but my application was rejected," said Desai.

The court also sought monthly reports from the school on the boy's progress in learning.

"I also told the board that a monthly report may be sought from the school on the progress and impact of learning on these boys and the court agreed to it and directed the school to sent monthly report cards," Desai said.

He said he is also considering to file an appeal against the conviction in the higher courts.